Saviour
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: After defeating Zelena, Regina collapses causing her family to realise how much she has gone through for them. Henry/Regina. Snow/Regina. Charming/Regina and then Emma/Regina. What are calling this family? SwanMillsCharming? A slight dash of SQ but mostly family feels.


_Okay so this oneshot comes from the fact that in the past few episodes Regina has been thrown a lot and I feel like there would be more damage from this. She got thrown into a car, thrown through a clock-tower and tossed to the floor twice as well as magically choked. I just feel like there would be more of an aftermath. _

_Summary: After defeating Zelena, Regina collapses causing her family to realise how much she has gone through for them. Henry/Regina. Snow/Regina. Charming/Regina and then Emma/Regina. What are calling this family? SwanMillsCharming? A slight dash of SQ but mostly family feels. _

_I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy :) _

"Don't tell me what I can be" Regina croaks out feeling the magic tighten around her throat. Being in this position sends her back to her childhood when Cora would do the same. She reminds herself that she has changed much since then. She's stronger. She's had to be. She thinks about her life now. She thinks of her son who believes in her, who believes in her ability to be good. She thinks of Snow who, in spite of all their past, believes in her and still gives her second chances. She has a family now. Regina thinks not of darkness and anger but of the people she's trying to protect. _Be the hero _she thinks. She has done before but at those points she was still on the cusp – neither hero nor villain. Today she wants to be the hero her son believes she can be. She can be good. She can be light. She can save them all.

She gasps as white envelops her hands looking down at them in shock. She's never seen magic like this come from herself. She is untrained in this magic and its power. Regina takes a few shuddering breaths before looking at Zelena.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

Regina doesn't know for sure. All she knows is she is not who she was. She is not an evil queen in this moment. Her magic is not tainted by darkness. She doesn't know what she's doing with this magic but as for herself. She knows what she's doing, "Changing" she says before directing the magic to Zelena sending her flying.

She drops to the ground and winces. She feels dizzy and tired. She's been through a lot these past few days. The Miata. The clock-tower. She's been choked twice. She's been knocked unconscious twice. After the incidents she got up and carried on but now as the exhaustion from using magic hits she can feel all those things hit her.

She stops Rumple killing Zelena. She got a second chance and she believes her sister can have one too. She hopes the other woman will take it.

From the corner of her eye she can see Charming and Emma check over the baby. He's safe. _You did it. You saved them _she thinks doing her best to try and stay upright. She can feel her legs threatening to buckle beneath her. Every muscle hurts. Her head swims from the faintness, dizziness and nausea currently swamping over her.

"Regina?" someone, she can't tell who calls her name worriedly but it's too difficult to process the sound. It feels as if it sifts through a kind of fog before it reaches her ears. Her eyelids feel heavy as she struggles to stay conscious. She can feel the barn spinning before the ground rushes towards her.

"Regina?!" Emma cries out worriedly as she sees Regina suddenly collapse. She looks up at Robin, "Give me her heart."

"Pardon?"

"Give me her heart," Emma doesn't know what's wrong. She doesn't know what's caused Regina to suddenly fall but she prays restoring her heart will cause her to wake. That's how magic works right? Hearts give love and strength and even in Regina's case when she can love without her heart, Emma prays this will save Regina.

She pushes the heart in and waits anxiously. The brunette's chest jerks slightly to indicate her heart's return but she remains still.

Charming frowns watching the two women, "What's wrong with her?" Their past may have been fraught with anger and hate but were it not for Regina he could well have lost his son today.

Emma frowns watching the slow rise and fall of Regina's chest. She looks her over for any sign of injury but she can't find one. "Come on Regina. Wake up," she mutters pulling Regina into her lap. She looks up at her father and shakes her head, "We need to get her to a hospital."

* * *

They all sit in the hospital room waiting for news. Snow holds the baby in her arms as Charming sits next to her. Emma and Henry sit side by side on the chairs looking through to the next room where Regina is being examined by Doctor Whale. He wouldn't let them be there while he checked her out but as a concession he put her in the room next to Snow's so they could all be close.

"What do you think's wrong with her?" Henry asks worriedly. He's never seen his Mom be hospitalised before and it terrifies him.

"I'm sure she'll be okay," Snow, ever the optimist, replies.

Emma hugs her son closer, "Of course she will. You know your Mom. She's strong."

Henry smiles half-heartedly, "I've never seen her end up in the hospital."

They all nod falling into a sombre silence punctuated only by the whimpers of the new baby. No-one really knows what to say. All of them are waiting for Doctor Whale to come in and tell them that there's nothing to worry about.

If only he would say that.

The doctor comes in with a grave expression which only worries them all. "What's wrong with my Mom?" Henry asks looking through to the window to see his mother lying unconscious in the hospital bed.

"It's hard to say exactly."

"What?" Emma asks, "How can you not know?"

"It's not that we don't know. It's that we don't exactly which thing caused this to happen. Regina's body has been through a lot over the past few days, the fights with Zelena have taken their toll. Today when she used her magic we think she must have drained whatever resources were keeping her healthy. She needs time to rest and recover, time she hasn't had."

"But she got right up," Charming says in confusion, "Each time she got up. She was fine."

"Yes I know," Whale said, "But at the time a combination of magic and shock would mean that she wouldn't feel the effects until later. Her body however never had time to catch up to itself until today when everything hit at once."

"But she will wake up?" Snow asks.

Whale smiles hopefully, "Eventually. Give her time. Give her body time to heal."

* * *

Charming walks into the room and deflates a little. He's not sure what he was expecting but it wasn't this. He's never seen Regina look quite so…harmless. She looks as if she were merely sleeping were it not for the monitors keeping track of her heartbeat, making sure she was still alive.

He sits down beside Regina with a small frown.

He never considered what all those fights did to her. Each time she fell she had gotten up again and so he thought she was fine. He never thought about the toll it must have taken on her. Seeing her lying in that hospital bed, it dawns on him how physically small she is. Her magic and her personality has always made her seem larger than life, untouchable.

In their days as enemies he never considered what damage fights did to her. She always poofed away and then would reappear fine during their next encounter.

He's never seen the aftermath before.

He keeps expecting her to wake up and make some sort of witty and sarcastic comment about him wasting time in here rather than being with his new son.

The things is without Regina his son could well be dead. They could all have been. Regina isn't his enemy anymore. She's a part of his family and today she was a saviour to them all. Again.

"Hey Regina," he says, "I know we don't exactly talk much if at all but I really need to thank you. Without you, well I don't even what to think about what could have happened had you not been there today. You're a hero Regina not just today. You've saved us before. You saved us in Neverland and with the trigger. You're a hero Regina. I never really think about all the stuff you've been through to save us. I think it's because you're always so tough, so resilient. You don't have to be anymore Regina. We're all here and we're all worried about you. Just rest up and get better because I want you to meet the baby you saved."

He looks up hoping to see her open her eyes.

She doesn't.

* * *

Snow looks through the window to check Charming is with their sleeping son. She knows he is but after today she needs to be sure. Once she's certain her son is safe she wheels her chair through to Regina's room. The hospital insisted she go in the chair even though she's just going to the next room.

She sighs as she wheels up next to Regina. They've both been through so much and their relationship never seems to stop changing.

She used to hate what their relationship had become. All the anger and resentment and the desire for revenge. It was all such a waste. So many years were wasted between them on inflicting pain and being enemies.

Maybe she thinks they had to go through all this with Zelena to end up where they are now. Now they've reached a new place of understanding. They aren't enemies anymore. She's not sure what they are.

Family.

They're family.

Family always protects and saves one another. In the Enchanted Forest and Neverland they all stuck together. They had to for fear of falling apart.

Now under Zelena's threat they have all worked together. They didn't let Regina be alone and supported her and she saved them all yet she never considered the damage all those fights caused Regina.

In her head Regina has always been strong. She has always bounced back and kept fighting. She knows that's why Zelena picked Regina's heart. Her body, her mind and her heart have all been through so much and yet Regina continues to fight. She continues to fight against darkness. They all told her about how Regina used light magic and Snow couldn't be prouder. She always knew that light was still in Regina and her use of that magic proves that Regina believes.

Snow wheels herself closer before looking at the unconscious woman before her, once her stepmother, not her grandson's other mother and a bigger part of her family than Snow could ever have imagined. "Regina I need you to keep fighting. Remember our conversation from the other day when I told you about your heart? Well I have to believe the same is true of your body and mind and soul. You've been through so much Regina and I know you can beat this. I know you can keep fighting. I know you'll wake up and when you do you have a family waiting for you. After all we need to throw you a party, or at the very least a dinner. You saved my son today. You saved my son and the rest of our family. Never doubt that you are a hero. We need you Regina so keep fighting."

* * *

Emma stays silent for a long time.

She feels like she should say something but she isn't sure what. She's not even sure what to make of her feelings for Regina. She hasn't figured out what she feels. Regina is her son's other mother. Regina taught her magic and awakened something in her she had never felt before. When Regina taught her magic she believed in herself, she believed she could do anything.

There's more to it than that.

Regina gave her a happy ending. Literally. She gave her and Henry an amazing life. She made sure that they were happy and safe and gave Emma everything she had ever wanted to have. It was a beautiful dream, one she had to wake up from but wishes she never had. She wishes she hadn't woken up because as soon as she did she remembered the one thing missing from her life – love. More specifically the woman who gave her a happy ending.

She hasn't figured out how to tell Regina yet.

She's not even sure how to say the words or what would happen if she did.

What she never considered is that she might not get a chance to figure it all out. She never considered that Regina would fall without her working up the courage to tell the brunette the truth. She's always seen Regina as being so strong. Even when the woman was devastated she stayed up and fighting.

Seeing her like this is startling and frightening.

It truly terrifies her to see Regina this way. She never dared dream that Regina could be this hurt. Every time Regina was hit it made Emma's heart sink and every time she got back up all Emma could feel was overwhelming relief. Now she wishes she had asked Regina if she was okay.

"Hey Regina," she says wiping her eyes, "Damn I was hoping I wouldn't cry but I guess you have that effect on me sometimes. I care about you Regina. I care about you more than you know and that's my fault. I've never told you I feel and I won't because I'm going to wait for you to wake up. I need you Regina. You, me and Henry we're family okay? I know I keep talking about going to New York but that's because sometimes I get scared and I just want to escape to that life. I would never go back though. I would never take Henry from you. Never. I promise. You promised not to let him go and I promise not to take him. We are a family Regina. No matter what happens we're a family. We all believed in you today and you believed in you and you won. You're a saviour Regina. For me that means a lot of pressure. For you the cost is this I guess. Don't let the cost take you down Regina. I really need you to wake up Regina because I want you to see Henry's face when he calls you a hero. He was so damn proud of you Regina and I am too."

Emma stops and looks down at the unmoving brunette. She frowns tucking some of Regina's hair behind her ear, "I guess you need more time to wake up. That's okay. Just don't take too long," she says squeezing Regina's hand to let her know she's there.

* * *

Henry walks in slowly unsure of what to expect. He's been trying to prepare himself for this but nothing could have prepared him for seeing his Mom lying in the bed unconscious. His Mom has always been healthy. She always gets up.

Always.

He meant what he said to her earlier. He's proud of how his Mom has changed. She isn't the evil queen anymore, she hasn't been for a while. His Mom is a hero and he knows that, he's glad she believes that too.

He knows she does because she was able to use light magic.

"I knew you could do it Mom," he says with a smile. "I knew you could save us all."

He did.

He knew she had it in her. He's seen how his Mom has changed, both for him and for herself. He's watched her grow and change from someone motivated by revenge to someone motivated by love and the need to protect her family. He knows a lot of it comes from the fact that his Mom isn't alone anymore.

For a long time she had been.

Now she has Snow and Charming and Emma and him. _We're never going to leave her all alone again _he vows silently. He never wants to be separated from his family again, not now he remembers. He can't even imagine what it must have been like for his Mom to spend time with him and pretend that all she was was the Mayor.

He lets her sleep for a long time before he eventually speaks.

"Remember that time when I had the flu? I do. I was six and I was so ill and so tired. What I remember most though is how you were there the whole time. I love you Mom and I'm going to do the same for you. You're never going to be alone again I promise. We're a family. Family doesn't leave each other behind. You taught me that. I remember. I know I spent a long time angry at you but never doubt that I don't remember. I remember you, I remember my Momma."

He pauses to take her limp hand in his own.

"I never really thought about the cost of being a hero. I know that all magic comes with a price. I just never thought it could apply to light magic. I guess I was wrong. You've been through a lot these past couple of days and well I wanted you to know that I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you because you never give up. You never have. Don't now."

He chews his lip before he continues, "I'm going to be here every day until you're better and even if you wake up and no-one's here, which I'm not going to let happen, we're all next door waiting for you. Grandma and Grandpa won't tell us the baby's name yet. They're waiting for you so I could do with you getting better because I really want to know his name. So does Granny for the blanket."

He smiles before squeezing his hand, "I love you Mom."

"Love you Henry"

He nearly jumps at the quiet murmur and quickl stands to see his Mom staring at him with unfocused eyes. "Hey Mom."

"Henry" she mumbles quietly though he can hear the pain in her strained voice.

He smiles, "I'm here Mom. Go back to sleep."

He leans over to kiss her forehead as she drifts back to sleep before settling into the chair beside the bed. He picks up his book before putting it aside and deciding to tell a new story, "Once Upon A Time there was a queen. She used to be evil but now, now she's a hero and she's my Mom."

_Always happy to hear what you think. Thank you very much for reading :) _


End file.
